In a story familiar to many in Bluffton, "Follies 2010 - A Sentimental Journey," offers a musical glimpse of life during and after World War II in a 25-year span from 1944 to 1969. Sun City Community Theater's annual variety show features song, dance and comedic routines, but this year's presentation offers an unusual twist.Unique to the show's standard format is the fact that directors Marilyn Bateman and Bonnie DeSimone have scripted a story around the performances.In "Sentimental Journey," Tom Wilson, played by Ed Galloway, and Dave Carter, played by Joe Nicolini, join the Army after high school graduation and enjoy a final fling at the Continental Club with their girlfriends. Once Dave's enlistment ended, he became an entertainer. Tom remained in the army and eventually became a colonel, returning home for a 25th high school reunion.From boot camp to reunion, the two friends stay in touch and cross paths at the NCO Club in Fort Jackson, a USO show at the front in Korea and again back at the Continental. Along the way, a number of famous and popular entertainers - from the Andrews Sisters to Burns and Allen to Bob Hope - provide songs and laughs.Portraying some of those men and women who enjoyed USO dances and sat in NCO and officer's clubs are real Sun City veterans, most making their first foray onto the boards. They put away their uniforms a long time ago. Some discarded them, and most of the uniforms, worn many years ago when they were 19 or 20 years old, would not fit today. A few will wear their original uniforms while others will don authentic uniforms donated by Patti Maurer. More than 20 vets volunteered to appear and several will rotate throughout the four performances. Robert Blust served in the U.S. Army Air Corps as a pilot assigned to the 1st Troop Carrier Squadron of the 10th Air Force in the China-Burma-India Theater of Operation. He flew 37 roundtrip missions over the "Hump," as the Himalayan Mountains were known.S. James Capossela served in the U.S. Navy during World War II in the Pacific Theater aboard the USS Ostara, an amphibious cargo assault ship. At the end of the war Jim sailed to Haiphong, in French Indochina - now Vietnam - where the crew picked up 1,000 Chinese soldiers to transport them to Chingwangtao, Manchuria.Leonard Gaffga served in the U.S. Navy as a combat information center officer aboard the aircraft carrier USS Roosevelt during the Vietnam War. Gale DeRouin Guiler served in the U.S. Air Force as a registered nurse. Her tour of duty included Travis Air Force Base in California and as an obstetrics nurse for military dependents in Incirlick Air Base in Turkey. Her final assignment was at Lakenheath Royal Air Force Base in England. Lew Guiler served in the U.S. Army as a combat medic in Vietnam. In 1971 he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force, served as a medic until 1979 when he earned a commission. He retired in 1986.Arnold Rosen served in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War, attached to the 75th Air Depot Wing, Chinhae, Korea, and the 543rd Ammo Supply Squadron, Ulsan, Korea.George Scoffus served as a World War II pilot on a Martin B-25 bomber in the 69th Squadron, 42nd Bomb Group of the 13th Air Force in the South Pacific.Hal Harriman served in the U.S. Army Air Corps as a cryptographer during World War II. One day, two four-star generals - Gen. George C. Marshall, army chief of staff, and Gen. Hap Arnold, general of the U.S. Army Air Corps - walked into the communications room and handed Harriman a message. The message was to be encoded and sent directly to Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, the commander of the supreme headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force, commanding him to begin the D-Day invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944.Don Crewdson, Matt Jordan, Charles MacDonald, Marty Klinghoffer, Stuart Ritchkin, Larry Dellavecchia and Ed Grieve are also listed among the veterans although some of them have a few more lines in the show than the vets in uniform.More than 100 singers, dancers, comedians and instrumentalists will provide the entertainment in four scenes, and another 30 are hidden in the wings working backstage, at the doors and in the booth.While actual on-stage rehearsals began at the beginning of August, Bateman said many of the groups have been working on their acts since May, after the directors made selections based on the script.A number of people were involved in melding the different acts into a cohesive storyline, Bateman said. Fellow writers were DeSimone, Stuart Blickstein, Harvey Trabb, Ed Phelps and Ed Galloway, "with apologies to Bob Hope," Bateman said.The schedule of the performances is also different this year because demand for the popular Magnolia Hall entertainment center is high."Follies 2010" will be on stage next week at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, with a matinee at 2 p.m. Tuesday. Tickets are available at the Magnolia Hall box office from 9 to 11 a.m. Sept. 1, 3, 8, 10, and 13-16 and one hour before curtain. Tickets are $16 for all performances. Call for 705-7422 for details. Arnold Rosen contributed to this article.

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